joelbct wrote:A follow-up, my review of Ippodo's Horai no-mukashi:This is an excellent Matcha, I'm amazed that it costs only 1000 yen (~$10US) for 20 grams! The Horai tastes much like the Wakamatsu, which costs 50% more. And I am pretty discerning, I would not waste my money on a mediocre Matcha.

Anyways, this is great news, I think I have found my new everyday Matcha. I love when I find a great tea for a fair price... I really think this Horai Matcha tastes better than some Matcha's from other sources which cost 4 times as much. It is completely bright green and foamy as well, I will post pictures when I have the time.

Ito En's red-labeled Koto is the better of the two, but I think it's a tie between Ippodo's Wakamatsu and Ito En's Koto for my favorites so far...

After finishing the cannister of Horai, I realized I will just stick with the Waka as far as what I get from Ippodo. The shipping is $15 anyway so might as well get the good stuff...

Thanks Joelbct. I just checked out the ippodo product page and ordered me some wakamatsu. Just curious - do you follow their serving recommendations- 2 gm for usucha and 4 gm for koicha ? I usually use 3 matcha teaspoons (Ito en Koto) to make thick - and mix it with 2 oz of water - and I alomst feel a kick in the head with that much tea.

WoW - 5 gms! That's it - I have resisted getting a scale - but now I am going for it. To bedbathbeyond it is.

On a side note, how long do you take to finish it? One of the less addressed issues is that when the tea is made in the matcha bowl, it goes cold with in a very short period of time. And this greatly affects the taste. Recently, after making the thick matcha - I started pouring it in a espresso cup. This way the tea is warm a little longer.

I tend to make my koicha quite thick, so it doesn't take long (alas) to finish it.
If you preheat the chawan (you might choose a chawan that retains well heat), the tea should stay hot long enough to fully enjoy it.

inspectoring wrote:Just curious - do you follow their serving recommendations- 2 gm for usucha and 4 gm for koicha ? I usually use 3 matcha teaspoons (Ito en Koto) to make thick - and mix it with 2 oz of water - and I alomst feel a kick in the head with that much tea.

I too use 2-3 somewhat heaping Chashaku scoops-full. A 20-gram tin would last me more like 8 or 10 sessions, personally. I usually don't drink it as Koicha myself. But my recommendation is experiment! Try less water, more water, less tea, more tea, etc, cooler water, warmer water, etc, until you find what you like.

And good question about drinking-time/temperature. I like to drink some when it is warm, and some when it has cooled down a bit, to enjoy the different flavors.

WOW -....so thats roughly 160 mg of caffeine per serving...not that much compared to coffee.

However, I used to drink about 4 -5 espressos a day and still occasionally drink 2-3 per day. I have to say, even with 2 -3gm of the matcha - I am buzzed. I feel like I have had 10 cups of coffee. So I think that 3.2 gm may be an underestimate??

inspectoring wrote:I have to say, even with 2 -3gm of the matcha - I am buzzed. I feel like I have had 10 cups of coffee. So I think that 3.2 gm may be an underestimate??

Even when I was a big time coffee addict -- drinking up to 2 liters of strong, Latin style and espresso a day -- on those rare occasions when I had a tea I got buzzed from the tea. For me it was a completely different feeling. Tea has large amounts of Theanine, a stress reducer, as well as caffeine and the two (plus who knows what else) work together to produce quite a different effect.

From Wikipedia:"[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine]Theanine has been shown to reduce mental and physical stress, may produce feelings of relaxation and improves cognition and mood when taken in combination with caffeine[/url]"

ok. So today or tommorow I will pay a visit to itoen in person and pick up 2 koicha cans.
1. Matcha-Banreki No Mukashi
2.Matcha-Koto no Tsuki

I have tried koto before and was impressed with it but as I just re-read this post I realize that there are things I could have done differently.

I truly don't think it will be difficult to finish these two cans. I mean a 20gm can - if made right - can be over with in a week. Now if only I could find a bank around the store in the area that will be willing to donate some money to the noble cause of investigating different matcha teas..